Crumpler hopes to visit Vick

"We have to find out the rules, like if he can have visitors and what the procedures are," Crumpler said last week. "The thing is we're still trying to find the details, and that's not information you can get with a quick phone call."

Vick was sentenced three weeks ago to 23 months in federal prison for his role in an interstate dogfighting conspiracy.

Crumpler and running back Warrick Dunn said several times this season that they routinely spoke with Vick after a federal grand jury indicted him on July 17. All contact stopped on Nov. 19, when Vick voluntarily reported to a regional jail in Warsaw, Va. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback became a federal inmate as he stood before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson earlier this month in Richmond, Va.

Crumpler and Warrick Dunn have asked Kevin Winston, the Falcons' senior director of player development, to learn what visiting privileges, if any, Vick has.

"A couple of us, me and Warrick and maybe some other guys on the team want to see him face to face," Crumpler said. "It's been a long time since all this stuff started up."

According to a listing Monday on the Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site, Vick's location is "in transit." He has been assigned register number 33765-183.

Crumpler considers himself Vick's closest friend on the Falcons.

In 2001, Atlanta drafted Vick, a Virginia Tech sophomore, No. 1 overall. Crumpler, a North Carolina senior, was picked in the second round.

Former Falcons coach Dan Reeves had Vick and Crumpler share hotel rooms when the team took road trips during their rookie season.

"We've always been very close, and that's why Mike knows I'll be there for him no matter what," Crumpler said. "He made some bad decisions and he's paying a heavy price for those mistakes, but that doesn't mean that I should turn my back on him."

Vick also is scheduled to stand trial April 2 for state dogfighting charges in Surry, Va., the site of former property he owned to house "Bad Newz Kennels."

Crumpler, a four-time Pro Bowl tight end, was among five Falcons who were fined for violating the NFL's uniform code in their support of Vick on Dec. 10. The league fined Crumpler, DeAngelo Hall, Roddy White and Chris Houston $10,000 each for wearing "MV7" on their black eye strips in Atlanta's blowout loss to New Orleans.

Receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500 for pulling up White's jersey and letting television cameras show his teammate's "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt underneath.

Hall did not appeal his fine, but the other four players did.

Crumpler caught two touchdown passes in the Falcons' season finale, a 44-41 victory over Seattle on Sunday. Atlanta's 4-12 record was its worst since 2000.